Ways of Knowing

Dec 08 2024 177 ep. 5 mins 1.6k
Ways of Knowing Podcast artwork

New ways of thinking about the world, brought to you by the humanities and The World According to Sound. We’re working with universities to translate academic research into sound. Each season has a radically different format and topic. You’ll never hear the same kind of thing twice. We’re independent and ad free. Patreon is the best way to support our work. https://www.patreon.com/theworldaccordingtosound

  Society & Culture
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The Imaginary: Utopia

Dec 08 2024 12 mins  
Given the option to plug into a world totally free from conflict and struggle, most would choose to remain in their current reality. A true utopia would be too boring, stifling—with no problems to solve, there would be no outlet for creativity, for the imagination. Episode guest is John Farrell, professor of literature at Claremont McKenna College. Produced with the Gould Cente

The Imaginary: The Knowledge Argument

Dec 04 2024 12 mins  
If a person spends their entire life seeing only in black and white, is it possible for them to truly know what it would be like to experience color? Philosophers have debated this for decades, but one thing they have often overlooked is the power of the imagination. It is a skill, and like any other skill it can be honed, perhaps enough to allow one to achieve deep knowledge of an

The Imaginary: Poetry of Perception

Nov 30 2024 8 mins  
Media are increasingly monopolizing attention: Your mind is prevented from wandering, from generating thoughts, having associations, coming up with ideas. Over time, this dulls the creative faculties and weakens the power of imagination, which is essential for the creation of art…as well as for a clear perception of reality. Episode guest is Radhika Koul, professor of literature

Ways of Knowing: An Inexact Science

Sep 14 2024 125 mins  
Science is not some purely rationalist endeavor that exists in an isolated realm of objective observations and hard data that can deliver absolute truths. It is built on and intertwined with the modes of analysis, intellectual history, and ways of knowing in the humanities. 0:00 Intro 2:19 Part 1 –– Metaphors We Live By 5:52 Part 2 –– Metaphors in Science, an Ancient Par

Listening Experience 01: Transposition

Mar 11 2024 82 mins  
The first in a 9-part series dedicated to deep, intentional listening. Episodes of "The Listening Experience" will be released about every four months.

Cosmic Visions: Sounds of Space

Dec 21 2023 8 mins  
There's a lot to hear in outer space if you change the way you listen.

Cosmic Visions: Sonic Gravity

Dec 20 2023 13 mins  
The story of how gravitational waves were finally discovered and how we are making sense of them.

Cosmic Visions: Picturing the Universe

Dec 19 2023 11 mins  
Some of the most iconic images we have of the universe closely resemble 19th-century landscape paintings of the American West. A big part of the reason has to do with how scientists interpreted visual data from telescopes like Hubble.

Cosmic Visions: Dante's Universe

Dec 18 2023 10 mins  
With the telescopes of the 20th century, astronomers began to see a universe that just so happened to resemble the cosmos as described by a 13th century Italian poet…Dante Alighieri.

Cosmic Visions: Aliens

Dec 17 2023 11 mins  
An observational error in the 19th century leads to a belief that there is an advanced alien civilization on Mars...which leads to a boom in astronomy investment, research, and actual discoveries, including the first sighting of Pluto.